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Suggestions needed for game for mom and four year old to play together
TheMonksMom
Member Posts: 4
Hi everyone,
I came here to research a new game for my son (aka The Monk, age 4) and myself (aka The Mom, age 41) to play together. I'm reading and researching and overwhelmed, so I thought I'd ask you for suggestions. We currently are big fans of Wizard 101 but at level 40 or so, we are getting kind of bored and are looking for something new to play.
Things we are looking for in a game:
1) Something which does not require a ton of reading to play. While we do play together, and I read for him, and he can read some himself, he doesn't enjoy a game that requires me to read a ton. We were trying out Dragonica tonight and it was just too much reading of teeny tiny print for me to make dinner while he played.
2) Fighting. The Monk wants to fight. He is his fathers son
3) Questing. The Mom wants to quest.
4) Something we can play casually but still have fun. He's four, he's not allowed to play that much and Im a mom and don't have a ton of time to play without him.
5) Something where we can do solo play most of the time. I'm happy to jump in and help people with quests etc, but we aren't in a position to commit to being a part of a group that meets every night from 7-9. So, especially in the early levels, we need to be able to play by ourselves or with some really loose associations wtih people who just happen to be online at the same time we are. We do enjoy that other players are real people and do often help other players in wizard 101 but often buy henchmen instead of waiting around to find someone to help us do a quest that really needs assistance.
6) The monk likes the following things so any of them would be great: wizards, magic,the undead, knights, monsters/creatures, pets/animals, space, aliens, robots (he's my geek in training).
7) The monk is abnormally unafraid of scary monsters. Monsters are no problem.
8) . We'd like to be able to customize our character a little. Guilds, races, variety of people/creatures might be something the Monk would like.
9) A good story. We often "play" Wizard 101 in the car on the way to school, where we are characters in that world. I'd like a game where we can take enough away from it that its something we can pretend later.
10) We are happy to pay for the right game.
Things we do NOT care about: PVP (never done it), Graphics (3d would be nice, but other than that..) , kid controls (I'm right there, he's safe, and heck, he can't read those kind of words anyway)
I'm currently considering Bright Shadows, Everquest (played that before he was born), Guild Wars, Dungeons and Dragons Online but your suggestions are VERY welcome!!
Thanks so much for reading and for your help!!
Comments
Haven't played it myself, but I understand Free Realms is fun for the young age group and has some fighting in it (they have ninjas and soldiers or some such, anyways).
Best of luck!
Guildwars sounds like it might fit the bill especially the later expansions that supply henchmen and extra heroes but if I recall correctly there's a fair bit of reading in it for the quests. Lego Universe is supposed to come out later this year, not sure if that does it for you, but from what I've heard it also might be
I've never played it but the review for Pirates of the Caribbean make it sound like it will work as well. http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/251/feature/1651/A-Quick-Look-at-Disney-Onlines-PotCO.html
Might want to look at Earth Eternal. It's been a little while since I played but the following is what I remember.
Earth Eternal
Free to play with a cash shop. A bright colorful world with biped animal avatars. Plenty of quests or just monsters (mostly humanoid or non-biped animal based) to kill. No blood and guts. It isn't a child focused game and does have a chat filter that is semi-effective for the future. It also isn't a difficult game. A small group can handle most challenges well. The community as with all games will vary daily but is mostly welcoming. The avatar equipment variety falls somewhere in the middle of the asian clone "look alike at a certain level and class" and what you would find in say EQ or WoW.
Allod's Online
I don't recommend Allod's Online. It's game play can be a bit slow and yet can be unforgiving at the same time. It is also a PVP game from about level 20 on. The community is definitely adult and may not play well with someone who doesn't do the right thing at the right time every time. It also requires a fair bit of handling many skills on cool-down timers.
Bright Shadow
Bright Shadow is full of childlike avatars but not necessarily child players. Lots of different monsters with a wide variety of difficulty. They do get harder as you level and almost require cash shop use once you get involved with the game. When you get to the Griffons and Harpies they may be more than a 4 year old will want to deal with. But I have no experience playing with children to make that authoritative.
Quests dry up after about 20-25 levels. They then become extremely tedious and unrewarding for the most part. "Talk to this person who tells you to talk to this person who tells you to talk to this person who sends you 2 zones away to talk to this person who tells you to kill five blobs and then tells you to go back and tell the other people two zones away that you killed five blobs." The next quest has you do the exact same thing except this time you have to kill ten blobs.
Very definitely cash shop oriented. Most of the dungeons it has are very simplistic and for me not fun. The monster cards collected in the game don't really exist other than graphic entries into a book. Those cards are used in combination with other cards to provide temporary buffs to your character and are used up in the process. They aren't used in game play in any remotely similar way to Wizardry 101. Standard asian clone-avatars and equipment/armor with cash shop costumes for some minor uniqueness.
Dungeons & Dragons
DDO is very definitely adult oriented in content and community. Much of the community is very focused on getting into a dungeon, killing what needs to be killed, getting the rewards and getting out /without/ any hand holding. They move /fast/ in a dungeon. And some of those dungeons can be confusing the first couple of times through. The other side of that is that replayability is good. The difficulty of each dungeon can be chosen at it's start. I believe there are now 4 levels of difficulty available. The big dungeon at the end of the "tutorial" island is a blast to play through. I won't spoil it for you other than to say there are a couple of large multi-level rooms you'll get lost in.
Playing as a 2 person group is very doable but you may have much more difficulty getting more laid back groups than Bright Shadow or Earth Eternal. You can play for short or long time periods easily. Some of the dungeons will take a good bit of time. Most can be completed casually between 30 minutes and an hour. You can play at your own pace when not grouped with others. There are a lot of players in-game and newcomers will probably be more welcoming of casual play then the established players. As in all games guilds vary greatly in their intensity at game play.
Equipment looks vary quite a bit and you never really know what a piece of armor will look like until you put it on. Avatars are basically human, dwarf or warforged. Different henchmen classes are rentable. They aren't the greatest when left to their own ability to make decisions much of the time. You can micro-manage them with their own hot bars. In-game group based voice capable.
About 20% of the content is readily available without paying money. A monk based avatar will have to be paid for. The cash shop items beyond any dungeon content packages you want are not necessary for game play. You also have the option of subscribing monthly and get all dungeon content. Of all of these games DDO will require better hardware than the others do.
Guild Wars & Atlantica Online
I have no direct experience with Guild Wars but have heard that people in groups expect certain builds for certain classes for certain dungeons and expect specific play from those classes.
You might also want to look at Atlantica Online. It's turn-based similar to Wizard 101. IBut also cash shop heavy. There is PVP that is avoidable.
Try Fusion Fall. Not exactly a Wizards and Magic type game, it's very Kid Friendly. Made by Cartoon Network, and has a lot of recognizable characters that help you along the game (Ben10, Samurai Jack, Dexter, etc.) There is also a lot of Parental Controls you can setup. Check it out.
fusionfall.cartoonnetwork.com/
Here's MMORPGs' Review
www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/373/view/reviews/loadReview/74
Freerealms is a very nice kids play mmo. Each job class levels with either puzzles or a instance map. PVP is optional customization is fairly high. Gameplay tends to happen very fast going from one job to another is streamlined. Communication tends to suffer in the term of certain restrictions sony has added. The world is very enjoyable and the people in it tend to varies from other adults to children. Sony promise to keep adding to the experience and delivers fairly well even though their poor track record. The game itself isnt very educational but what kid goes for education anyways. Event keep the game enjoyable and crazy crowded. Questing is fairly fast you can max a level of certain classes in less then 2 hours and some can take 2-3 days.
You could also try:
Fusionfall
At age 4 I dont have much to recommend I'd honestly would have to see how the child plays so honestly I wouldn't suggest any other game due to the vulgar conversation/unfamiliar behavior that can happen in other MMOs then again i've seen parent in my guild let their children play Age of Conan...
Play World of WarCraft. It's pretty simple. No one reads the quests. Tell them your son is a foreign exchange student or visiting the server from another country.
Oh! Saw the monk request. EQ2 has monks. Try out the different servers before you start. Some have various levels of people. Most of the jerks are gone as the game doesn't advertise much and they close a lot of gold seller accounts pretty fast. Most of those guys are still pushing gold on WoW.
Ragnarok Online was one of my first MMOs i played when i was younger. Ultima being my first XD
Goonzu is another game that has a easy questing system and complicated kingdom/ruler/stock system integrated.
Free Realms should do just fine for you. It's free but limited, but if you pay the $4.99 a month it unlocks everything. Has a ninja class, warrior, mage, etc, (classes are called jobs in the game), plus quests, puzzle games and more. With the classes one character can be them all, you can switch "jobs" anytime you wish. www.freerealms.com
As others said you can try FusionFall which is also free but again limited unless you pay $5.95 a month. www.fusionfall.com
Freerealms is your best bet very easy and fun. As a Dungeons and Dragons pnp player and also DDO player a big no, people want some sort of knowledge of builds classes and dungeons, also alot are pnp players. Probably a little bit advanced at this stage.
If you wanna stray away from the MMO world a bit you can try sites like
Gaia Online
Neopets
Whirled
OMGPOP
Any http://www.artixentertainment.com/ Game
Lego Universe is looking like its going to be fun even for an adult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewfVz3_33Nc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQVmLzzYxQo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxBo89lUH2k&feature=related
Age of Conan on a PvE server? Sounds perfect to me and there's a free trial to play as long as you want to level 20. I'd say give that a whirl.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
@alucard3000 Why didnt I think of that haha XD
Also there is:
Trickster
Nostale
Luna Online
Even though I dont reccomend it I'm playing Allod Online the community can be a bit vulgar and you may want to wait until the troll-herd thin the game but I see big things for this game as a whole. Plus the overall game has just been released so another reason to wait it out..
Wizard 101 is honestly the best kids game on the market I wouldnt leave honestly the kid doesnt even have to read..watching my dad play this game it seems the gameworld is full of people who rely on the players and can do nothing for themselves but a game with voice acting and doesnt pass 5-6 gig is pretty good in my honest opinion haha
I definitely agree with FreeRealms, there's also Wizards 101 and ROSE Online you'll both probably enjoy.
Yeah, I'd second looking into Lego Universe, as well as Free Realms.
I've also heard that even the young crowd can manage WoW.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
Got to put my vote in for either Free Realms or Wizard 101. High quality games geared to apeal to both young and old, without some of the udeseriable elements you might not want a four year old exposed to that you may see in some of the other games. Have a good time:)
This doesn't meet all of your criteria, but this is a fun game:
http://faunasphere.com/
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
"...Lego Universe is looking like its going to be fun even for an adult..." Lego clearly stated it takes it's age restrictions seriously. You can sign your kid up, but they don't want parents playing.
I think they are making a parents only room where the kids can drop their mom's and dad's off for an hour, so they can go play.
Runes of magic is a good mmo without being graphic....(also free)
You might want to try "A Tale In The Desert" or "Hello Kitty Online" if you're looking to play it with your 4 year old....
Or you could always go with Mortal Online if you feel like scarring him for life lol **
**Definately joking. MO should not be played by anyone under atleast 15 if not more like 18....
One of the greatest and heartwarming threads i've read on these forums. As a father of a 19 month old... i'm two and half years away from being in your position.
I play World of Warcraft with my 4 year old and he loves it. The graphics are cartoony, there are all kinds of creatures he can fight, there are cute pets, riding animals at level 20 and so much more. You dont have to read much to quest, it will display on the map where you need to go and the side of the screen tells you how many of what to attack. Lots of interesting places and things to see in the game, he loves going on the boats or flying on the birds.
Garden Party World
and here's the Parents page: http://www.gardenpartyworld.com/parents.php
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I will always remember my first 2 seconds in MO. I loaded up and got a good ol' pair of bare yellow elf tits to the face. xD
Check out the MUD I'm making!
I think you got a wrong impression about "A Tale In The Desert", if you think its a good game for a 4 year old...not to mention it has no combat at all